Q: Can there be Installation Problems?
Q: Is there an EZ-Architecture Manual?
Q: When I try to install EZ-Architect I get a failure notice and then the installation quits. How do I fix this?
Q: I've purchased the registration key to unlock the demo. When I attempt to use it the program takes me to the shopping cart and wants me to pay for another unlock key. What's going on?
Q: I have a lot of drawings that I created with the original Design Your Own Home Architect program. Will EZ-Architect allow me to open those and work with them?
Q: I cannot find an "auto-dimension-lines" feature.

Q: Can there be Installation Problems?

A: Some installations of Windows XP/Vista lack certain files that are required to install EZ-Architecture. You will find these files at Microsoft's website. You may not need these files. But if you start the installation of EZ-Architecture and get an error message, please go to this Microsoft page:

At the page review any information that interests you and then click the Continue button. At the next page follow the instructions and go through the steps on the next pages to install the file. After you do this, EZ-Architecture will install correctly.

Q: Is there an EZ-Architecture Manual?

A: You will find the manual for the software in the program's Help menu. In order to view the manual you will need Adobe Reader which you can download for free here.

You can also view the same manual with Adobe Reader by going to the EZ-Architecture folder in your Program Files directory by double-clicking manual.pdf.

Q: When I try to install EZ-Architect I get a failure notice and then the installation quits. How do I fix this?

A: This problem may be due to the version of Windows Installer that is on your system. Sometimes the error message will tell you that the problem could be because you are either running Windows in safe mode or that the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. First, go to Microsoft's web site and download the Installer program. After you've done this click on your Start menu and go to your Control Panel. Click on Add/Remove Programs. Select the Windows Installer and un-install it. After you've done this, restart your system and then install the new Installer that you just downloaded. After you've installed it you will need to restart your system again. Once you're up and running you should be able to install EZ-Architect without any further problems.

Q: I've purchased the registration key to unlock the demo. When I attempt to use it the program takes me to the shopping cart and wants me to pay for another unlock key. What's going on?

A: This is happening because you clicked on Upgrade under the Help menu instead of Enter Serial Number. The upgrade function is only for those who have not purchased the unlock key and wish to do so. If you already have the key, clicking on the Enter Serial Number option will allow you to enter the key and unlock the demo.

Q: I have a lot of drawings that I created with the original Design Your Own Home Architect program. Will EZ-Architect allow me to open those and work with them?

A: The short answer is YES!! There is an import feature under the File menu that will allow you to bring in files that were created with Design Your Own Home Architecture. Once imported you will be able to work with them and make any necessary modifications.

The long answer is that, due to some complex technical issues, everything will not import perfectly. Here's how the manual discusses the Import issue:

Import

Use this option to import files you created with the Abracadata Design Your Own Home Architecture program. (file extension .aig). Your files will not import perfectly, but we have devised some tricks to assist you in importing plans that you'll be able to work with in Ez-Architect.

1. First print your Design Your Own Home: Architecture plan from the Design Your Own Home: Architecture program so you have it for reference.
2. You need to Import into layer 1, NOT the base layer. To do this:
3. Click on the �1� button that's just below the word File on the navigation menu. This will enable you to import to Layer 1. Be sure that no other layer numbers are selected.
4. You can import into the Base layer, but we don't recommend it as several functions won't work properly: e.g., the bring to front/send to back functions. If you import to the Base layer and you realize after doing it that you're having problems with some of the program's functions, do this:

1. Do Ctrl+A to select everything on the base layer.
2. Then Ctrl+X to cut every object.
3. Click on the �1� for layer one.
4. Then Ctrl+V to paste all of your objects into level 1. They will all be selected. Leave them that way.
5. Immediately drag all these selected objects up and to the left about 20 pixels as the paste function will move everything down and to the right about 20 pixels from where they were on your original plan. Unselect all objects. Save.

Working With Imported Abracadata Plans, you may see the following anomalies:

missing or partial text
missing walls
missing objects

If you see that there are missing text, walls, objects, etc., use your printout to make your corrections. The import function ain't perfect. Sorry. Sometimes if you widen a text box you'll find the missing text. When you review your text objects, you may see that there are tiny squares instead of spaces; just edit the text and replace the squares with spaces.

Q: I cannot find an "auto-dimension-lines" feature.

A: You cannot find an "auto-dimension-lines" feature because we don�t have one because you don�t need one. This program, Ez-Architect, has been out for several years and we�ve never yet seen a situation in which a person NEEDS that feature. (Before we at The Liquid Ate Her had it, it was Design Your Home Architecture�that�s its predecessor� and in Abracadata, and Design Your Home Architecture has been around since the early 1980s.) The features in the program represent 25 years of enhancements as people wanted new features and as soon as a few people wanted them, we would put them in.

Why would an "auto-dimension-lines" feature be useless? Here are all the factors that went into our decision to omit automatic dimensioning:

People rarely if ever draw rooms using the rectangle tool, since rooms have windows, doors, partial walls, halls, entryways, etc. Usually they use either the wall tool or hollow wall tool and draw one wall at a time. It�s simple to keep walls perpendicular to one another since the angle is shown as you draw AND there are jaggies in lines that are not parallel to the screen�s sides so you don�t stop adjusting the drag until the jaggies are gone and the line is at 0 or 90 degree orientation. But if you don�t like fine-tuning the end of a wall drag, simply select Show Grid and Snap to Grid on the Layout menu, and all lines will be automatically right.

Set the program to Show Dimension When Drawing in the Preferences menu, so you always know exactly what you're getting as you draw it. Use the Wall Tool (if you don�t care about wall thickness) or Hollow Wall Tool (if you do care about thickness, since this thickness can be set in Preferences) for all walls you draw. Once all room walls are done, click the Mouse Pointer selection arrow and then move to and select any walls that you want a visible, permanent dimension line for, and do Ctrl Click on the Measuring Tool (Scale) which is 2nd from bottom on the left. Note that the Mouse Pointer selection arrow is still selected even though you just ctrl-clicked the measuring tool, so you can run around clicking on (selecting) other walls and Ctrl Clicking on the Measuring Tool (Scale) for each, to get needed dimension lines, including walls at weird angles.

If for some reason you�ve used the rectangle tool for doing 4 walls at once, and now you want dimensions, click either Line Width .01 or Line Width 1 on the Line Thickness Toolbar, then click the bottom line on the Line End Toolbar�with the �x� in it. Now click the Line Tool and line up the crosshairs with a side and draw a line alongside the rectangle�s side. You'll get a nice dimension line this way, just as you will with the Hollow Wall method with the Ctrl Click on the Measuring Tool, above.

If you were doing complex engineering drawings, you'd have bought a high-end CAD program. But since you're drawing architectural sketches, I'm having trouble imagining why you'd ever want every single thing you draw in a plan to have an automatic dimension line next to it. I've done construction, and I've drawn plenty of floor plans, and my experience is that all those extra lines would just get in the way and look bad. Also, whenever there are 2 parallel walls, why label BOTH and clutter up the drawing?

Note that if all lines were automatically creating parallel dimension lines, you'd not only have lots more dimension lines than you need, you'd also have a messy plan. But by selecting ONLY the walls where you really need such a line, you end up with a better looking, easier-to-read plan with no messiness or chaos. There are some uses (some engineering CAD) where automatic dimension lines are a plus, but low-end architectural drawings is not one of them, in our opinion, in our experience, and in the experience of 25 years of customers who guided our program features throughout the years.

I highly recommend using Ez-Architect in the manner outlined above in order to get the best results. Keep in mind that we (my wife and I) were in the 1st company on the planet to create a consumer-level oriented architectural sketching program (in Avant-Garde Creations in 1981, later Abracadata in 1985), and I (Don Jones) personally invented this consumer level Design Your Own Home Architecture, Interiors, and Landscape Design genre, and did all that programming (starting with the Apple II) of these home design programs. (We later also did PC DOS, PC Windows, and Apple IIgs, and Apple Mac versions of this program and trademarked Design Your Own Home.) Many companies later copied our efforts�using our general style, but many others unfortunately modeled their architectural programs from complex engineering CAD programs, creating much grief and frustration in their consumer-level users as they turned a fun, easy task into a frustrating, complicated one that took extra time to complete. Consumers are by definition NOT CAD-using engineers.